While minor in the scheme of things, I find this to be incredibly annoying…
In this post:
American has a new automated phone system
Yesterday I called American Airlines for the first time in weeks, and heard a phone prompt I hadn’t heard before. I didn’t think much of it at the time, and figured maybe my call just wasn’t routed correctly, or something. But nope, this is apparently something new, as reported by View from the Wing.
Long story short, when you call American, you now have to listen to a roughly 60-second automated message before you can talk to any agent. There’s no option to say “agent” or “representative” to get past the prompt, so you have to listen to this every time you call American, even if you’re a frequent flyer (I have AAdvantage Executive Platinum status).
Here’s the new prompt, which everyone has to listen to:
Thank you for calling American Airlines AAdvantage Executive Platinum reservations. Your call may be recorded and monitored to ensure high quality service. Para español, oprima numero nueve. For faster service, especially when making or changing travel plans, try the American Airlines mobile app or our website at aa.com. If you’re calling about travel booked through an agency, please contact the agency directly.
Thank you again for calling American Airlines. Did you know you can now do things like add a carry-on pet for flights within the US, request wheelchair service, and let us know about other special needs online? Go to aa.com to manage your trip and request additional services. You can also make changes or cancel your trip for travel credit if eligible.
Hi Benjamin, I’ve matched your phone number to your AAdvantage account. Please hold and I’ll get someone on the line to help you. Your feedback is important to us. Please remain on the line after your call to complete a brief two question survey regarding your experience with our travel professional today.
Please fix this, American!
I can of course appreciate American wanting to make customers aware of the options to self-service a reservation, and to direct customers online, in order to minimize hold times. That’s totally fair.
However, what’s annoying here is that there’s no option to skip this prompt. So now you need to waste a minute listening to this prompt every single time you call, even if you’ve heard it a hundred times before.
Furthermore, it’s one thing to have this on the general reservations phone number, but to have it at the elite lines is frustrating, when you consider that many elite members frequently call. The whole thing is also unnecessarily wordy. Like, is there a need to be thanked for calling twice?
An American spokesperson at least says that the company is “intently listening” to feedback:
We recently updated the prompts our customers hear when they call our Reservations team. These updates include a new message to make customers aware of our self service options online, which can save them time instead of waiting to speak with a travel professional, and updates to our technology to help route customer calls where they need to go to get them answers quickly. We’re listening intently to our customers’ feedback about this update and will continue to evolve to best support our customers.
So maybe American will rethink this?
Bottom line
American has recently introduced a new minute-long automated phone prompt. While I can appreciate American’s desire to make passengers aware of the other reservation servicing options, it should at least be possible to skip this.
I know this is minor in the scheme of things, but when you consider how many calls American gets, this translates to a lot of wasted time.
In the meantime, if you’re a frequent flyer and call American, you can just put your phone down for 60 seconds, and then pick up, so that you don’t bother listening to all of this.
What do you make of American’s new automated phone prompt?
It's the worst. And you need to say agent or representative as soon as you can. If you answer any other question, it puts you into an automated loop, and you will have to hang up and start again.
Definitely a step backward. Stupid AI is not a good thing.
An interesting data point... I just called the EP desk and after the automated voice asked me if I want Spanish, it went straight to "Let me get someone who can help." It completely skipped the long bit in the middle, so perhaps AA already changed it?
Hertz, Hertz, Hertz doesn't answer in the USA. The automation just continues. Will go on for hours without answering to a person.
Cannot solve the problem. Terrible.
Yes its summer, they know their rental volumes increase but apparently don't prepare for it.
Terrible management.
The problem is that when you need to make a change the website or the app tell you to call. So we all know that many service requests theoretically can be done online, in many cases, they can’t. So we don’t need a prompt to tell us to check the website or app
I miss the eager sounding "HELLO...BEN!" of the prior recording and that it matched the voiceover used in the cabin recordings
Tim Dunn, see how easy you can get a job and a life.
Your response here is just like AA phone system.
Thank you for calling cookie dough.
Your call may be recorded and monitored to ensure high quality service. Para español, oprima numero dunn.
For faster service, especially when travel, try the premium A350-1000 or our award winning DeltaOne.
If you’re calling about travel booked through ATL, please note the...
Tim Dunn, see how easy you can get a job and a life.
Your response here is just like AA phone system.
Thank you for calling cookie dough.
Your call may be recorded and monitored to ensure high quality service. Para español, oprima numero dunn.
For faster service, especially when travel, try the premium A350-1000 or our award winning DeltaOne.
If you’re calling about travel booked through ATL, please note the fortress holds a revenue advantage.
Thank you again for calling cookie dough. Did you know you can now do things like add DOT stats, reference earnings calls, all out of context and full of fluff.
Go to (insert blog here) to read the fluff and request additional fluff that didn't address your question.
Hi Tim Dunn, I’ve matched your phone number to your fluff account. Please hold and I’ll get someone on the line to help you.
Your feedback is I don't care I just post any fluff I make up citing some facts completely out of context. Please remain on the line after your call to complete a brief two question survey regarding your experience with Tim Dunn today. Your response doesn't matter, I won't address the question anyway if it doesn't make DL premium and untouchable.
..."rather than wait, we can call you back when it's your turn, over 2 hours from now."
That's what I got on Tuesday.
AMEX Platinum in Spain is much worse. From a cognitive assistant POV the good thing in American is they succeed in caller identification. In AMEX be prepared to give afterwards 7 random personal data...
It's bad. But it's not the worst airline phone intro. That award goes to EVA of Taiwan. I booked a flight from Bangkok to London, but had to change and couldn't do it online. Based in Australia, I called EVA in Sydney, but they directed me to EVA in Bangkok. Calling EVA in Bangkok (and being a non-Thai speaker) I was 'greeted' with an option to choose any one of half a dozen languages in...
It's bad. But it's not the worst airline phone intro. That award goes to EVA of Taiwan. I booked a flight from Bangkok to London, but had to change and couldn't do it online. Based in Australia, I called EVA in Sydney, but they directed me to EVA in Bangkok. Calling EVA in Bangkok (and being a non-Thai speaker) I was 'greeted' with an option to choose any one of half a dozen languages in which to converse with the agent. This is standard for a lot of airlines: somewhere in the sequence a voice in your native language will come on and tell you to press button X to continue the conversation in your language.
Problem was, the entire sequence inviting you to choose your language was......in Thai(!!)
Sucks to fly AA. At least with United you CAN actually do most things online. (The only thing I still call for is same day change after an upgrade has cleared, which apparently trips up the app.)
The other thing that revs my jets is that the voice recognition for record locator #'s never, I mean NEVER works. So even though I try it now & then, what's the point of wasting my time? Just easier to say, "Agent".
Use the phonetic alphabet (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, etc). Works much more often.
"Thank you for calling AA, you are our most valued customer because you fly all around the world many times per year, but obviously we don't think you know that the internet exists so we're going to mansplain the internet to you in case you haven't heard of it yet in the last 30 years."
It's all so patronizing when they think we're just calling because it's fun, especially these days when most of...
"Thank you for calling AA, you are our most valued customer because you fly all around the world many times per year, but obviously we don't think you know that the internet exists so we're going to mansplain the internet to you in case you haven't heard of it yet in the last 30 years."
It's all so patronizing when they think we're just calling because it's fun, especially these days when most of us would rather cut our arm off than make a phone call, so it should be a given that if we are calling them then it's because we HAVE to, so don't try to steer us online, we f&cking know you have a website, it didn't do what we need so now we're calling. Also, a VERY small number of us have ever travelled with a pet, so why are they making that message even longer by telling us we can register our pet online, it's highly unlikely anyone is calling for that reason, and if they are it's because they need something they couldn't do online.
It's a good thing that someone doesn't have to remember to turn gravity on and off every morning, AA would never be able to figure it out.
One downside of these long phone tree intros is that by the time they are done, I’m furiously screaming “REPRESENTATIVE! AGENT!!” and ready to chew out the helpless live person who finally gets on the phone. It must make the job worse for agents who have to deal with enraged customers who have half-forgotten the reason they called in the first place.
Anytime someone actually makes a phone call, they NEVER intend to talk to a machine. Ever! These "I can help you with that..." from the machine is so incredibly wasteful as no one ever wants to speak to a machine. If forced into it, the machine can rarely accomplish what is needed and after talking to a dumb bot and repeating things over and over, they get booted to an agent where they'll need to...
Anytime someone actually makes a phone call, they NEVER intend to talk to a machine. Ever! These "I can help you with that..." from the machine is so incredibly wasteful as no one ever wants to speak to a machine. If forced into it, the machine can rarely accomplish what is needed and after talking to a dumb bot and repeating things over and over, they get booted to an agent where they'll need to start all over again.
"I love talking to a machine..." said NO ONE EVER...
Experienced this for the first time earlier this week. As an EP, I appreciate your comments about having to listen to the entire message each time. The other consideration is the reason for my calls are often because I need help (delays, canceled flights, missed connections, etc...) for high stress items and hearing this message without a way to escape to a human just makes the stress worse.
I hate to say it, but I don't believe AA really cares about feedback on this issue, or feedback in general. Their business isn't really about flying planes anymore; it's about pushing credit cards and encouraging spend on those cards. If you're calling, they've already got your money as far as they're concerned.
They went so hard for so long with the strategy of stripping away any semblance of premium service trying to complete with...
I hate to say it, but I don't believe AA really cares about feedback on this issue, or feedback in general. Their business isn't really about flying planes anymore; it's about pushing credit cards and encouraging spend on those cards. If you're calling, they've already got your money as far as they're concerned.
They went so hard for so long with the strategy of stripping away any semblance of premium service trying to complete with WN, B6, NK, etc., that they're basically on par with most ULCCs. Pair that with their giving up on LAX, JFK, and ORD (i.e., anywhere they have to compete), and I really don't see how they can regain their footing.
It's sad to see the state of things at American right now - they are so completely screwed financially that I don't see how they avoid Chapter 11 in the next few months; maybe 1-2 years at most. As EP for the past 6-7 years, I'm taking a long look moving my loyalty to United.
Their refusal to clean house among their leadership ranks is just absolutely mind-bending. Raja was a sacrificial lamb, but everyone needs to be shown the door. It would be like an 0-16 NFL team firing their tight ends coach and expecting to make the playoffs.
Just so everyone knows, AA is developing an AI voice bot to replace its phone agents. The deployment target is 2026.
I too was taken back when I called AA - message too long. Then after that you get message about wait time to either wait or get call back. The other day the wait time on the ExecPlat line was an hour.
Delta's prompt to text with them instead is equally annoying, especially since you have to verbally say 'no' so I can't just dial and let it work it's way through to an agent. Sure, give it to travelers a few times, but they've already matched the phone number with my account so they should know I've heard that message enough i'm clearly not interested
Another awesome thing to do, when trying to book special international award tickets not possible online, most of the time I end up with a prompt about having a callback after certain time.
That call then comes only to have the agent as someone who doesn't handle "international award reservations" even though those are the prompts I went through for initial IVR before the callback prompt, then the person puts me on potentially long...
Another awesome thing to do, when trying to book special international award tickets not possible online, most of the time I end up with a prompt about having a callback after certain time.
That call then comes only to have the agent as someone who doesn't handle "international award reservations" even though those are the prompts I went through for initial IVR before the callback prompt, then the person puts me on potentially long hold time to actually get to the correct person.
And callback seems to be gone as well
Calling the EXP line is the worst. You have to hear a bunch of garbage like the pet policy. Or you get an automated message give you your flight details, which don't need. If I'm calling it's because I'm at an outstation (no AC) and need help to reticket during irregular operations.
It’s bad by design. The purpose of IVR is to make it a pita, and get people to drop the call to seek an answer online, or only call when they really really need something.
Exactly. They have metrics to track the percentage of calls that are "fulfilled" without human intervention, and adding garbage like this drives those numbers up. F**k the customer; management is happy.
Sure - but that's precisely Ben's point. As a EXP I'm only calling AA to do something I know I can't do online, or via an airport/club agent. I already know this - I don't need the phone system to further discourage me from calling. Give me the option to bypass the irrelevant spiel if I'm calling the elite line. And implement online services that more travelers actually need, unlike niche things like pets.
If it didn't cause any reduction in EXP call volume, they wouldn't do it.
The BA Gold Guest List phone number also has a full 1 minute prompt of nonsense before you can speak to anyone.
Here's the comment I sent:
This is a general comment relating to the new, roughly 60-second long, prompt when I call American.
It is terrible and you should feel bad that it exists.
When I am calling American, on almost all occasions I am either dealing with an outright failure of the website/app, I am trying to do something that it will not let me do (e.g. rebook from/to a different airport in an IRROPS...
Here's the comment I sent:
This is a general comment relating to the new, roughly 60-second long, prompt when I call American.
It is terrible and you should feel bad that it exists.
When I am calling American, on almost all occasions I am either dealing with an outright failure of the website/app, I am trying to do something that it will not let me do (e.g. rebook from/to a different airport in an IRROPS situation), or I am in a mad scramble during a situation and don't have the time/ability to use those functions (e.g. trying to get back onto my original flight because I would rather be stranded at X than Y because of relative hotel options). I do not need a pre-recorded voice suggesting that I try the website/app when I have already exhausted such options. It is insulting, belittling, and oftentimes deeply aggravating at the most stressful time possible.
Please consider the fact that, as an Executive Platinum, I am probably experienced enough to know when calling the EXP desk will actually be faster and/or more efficacious than using your online services (even AFTER this blatant attempt to degrade service on that line) and reminding me of those options adds no value to my experience.
BTW - I love having to certify that my frustration, as expressed here, "is accurate, complete, and true"...
I ran into this as well.
The snarky part of me wants to read a 60-second prompt to a few agents discussing the fact that if I could deal with [X] online, I would have already done so (probably 80% of the time when I call, it is either because something has fallen over on the website or the app is messed up; the balance is where I'm dealing with enough of an emergency that...
I ran into this as well.
The snarky part of me wants to read a 60-second prompt to a few agents discussing the fact that if I could deal with [X] online, I would have already done so (probably 80% of the time when I call, it is either because something has fallen over on the website or the app is messed up; the balance is where I'm dealing with enough of an emergency that I don't really have time to deal with figuring out whether the app is doing things right or not). A good example is last Friday - I was calling in because I'd been socked with a 24-hour flight rollback due to a probable missed connection, and it was exceedingly painful to check options because of the meltdown. No, I cannot [BLEEP]ing deal with that online, you dumb pre-recorded message.
Realistically, I think two seconds of a "Cartago delenda est"-esque comment will be appropriate - regrettably annoying to the agents.
I'll also be sending them a stiff feedback email, too.
If AA is going to stick to the new system, I’d wish the first thing it would say is “we can call you back in XX minutes….” I’d choose that even if there is no wait rather than listen to a minute of drivel.
You know what airline doesn't have a prompt for elites?
"Hi, Thanks for calling Spirit! Para espanol marque numero 9. This call may be recorded for quality control and training purposes. Please hold on for the next Spirit Gold representative...." I just did that now and someone answered 11 seconds afterward.
I hate phone trees and prompts. Way back in college I worked as an operator for the relay service (711, for the...
You know what airline doesn't have a prompt for elites?
"Hi, Thanks for calling Spirit! Para espanol marque numero 9. This call may be recorded for quality control and training purposes. Please hold on for the next Spirit Gold representative...." I just did that now and someone answered 11 seconds afterward.
I hate phone trees and prompts. Way back in college I worked as an operator for the relay service (711, for the deaf with TTYs to make calls). The operator serves as their "voice" on the phone. We had to type the entirety of the prompt tree when calling a number. What a mess... like Comcast it would take a couple of calls before you could type it all (and I was clocked at 110wpm typing speed). Then call back again and select the prompt they chose... .then type that prompt's whole tree...
Yeah but then you’re flying Spirit. I’d rather sit through a 20 minute phone tree than the indignity of flying spirit.
Prompt is useless, for anyone who has a business, please consider removing them, the only use of them is to make your customer more angry and it wastes everyone’s time. You may only leave 1 option for language difference.
A friend of mine says based on past experience to immediately press "numero nueve". When the person answers just say you hit the number by mistake and could you be transferred to an English-speaking representative. This may work with AA's new system.
This definitely is not new. I've heard it every time I've called for what feels like many months. I do agree that it's annoying
I agree with Ben. This new time wasting change is a huge pain. I too am an ExecPlat and for the relatively few times I need to talk to someone at AA it’s always about something that requires agent intervention and cannot be resolved on-line.
Up to this point I can’t really complain too much about the service I received calling the ExecPlat desk. The agents generally answer quickly and are competent in resolving...
I agree with Ben. This new time wasting change is a huge pain. I too am an ExecPlat and for the relatively few times I need to talk to someone at AA it’s always about something that requires agent intervention and cannot be resolved on-line.
Up to this point I can’t really complain too much about the service I received calling the ExecPlat desk. The agents generally answer quickly and are competent in resolving my issue. ExecPlat members fly enough to know the routine and when something requires human intervention. We don’t need some dumb ass recording talking down to us like we’re idiots. Save that for the C&E travelers who rarely fly but once or twice a year. The ExecPlat line should enable you to get a live person immediately, like it used to up till this ridiculous change was made.
I hate automated call services. Most of them are absolutely useless. The worst of all prompts is “please pay attention to the following as our menu options may have changed.” What changes??? It is the same stupid system. At least if you call Delta as a Diamond or 360 you get a real agent almost immediately.
I had a favorite case of that - my internet company (a small local operator). I think I eventually went in one day (their office is about 200 yards from mine) and said "Guys, you /do/ know your options haven't changed in over a decade, right?"
A truly Premium™ message wouldn't be a minute long. It would be at least two minutes long.
Don't give Delta any ideas!
I thought AA’s phone routing was terrible before. This makes it worse.
It’s always seemed like one needs to know the secret handshake to get to the right person.
How many times have I responded to the prompts that I want international award partner travel, only to be routed to the domestic revenue people (after long hold times)?
What’s the point of telling the prompt my desired dates and routing when:
A) Half the time...
I thought AA’s phone routing was terrible before. This makes it worse.
It’s always seemed like one needs to know the secret handshake to get to the right person.
How many times have I responded to the prompts that I want international award partner travel, only to be routed to the domestic revenue people (after long hold times)?
What’s the point of telling the prompt my desired dates and routing when:
A) Half the time the computer doesn’t recognize it
And
B) I need to restate the same info once I get an agent anyway?
It’s really annoying!
This is neither new, nor unique to AA. Its credit card companies and hotels and airlines and…
And it’s annoying/frustrating as hell. It also has nothing to do with letting us know about options to make our lives easier, and everything to do with lowering their overhead.
It's horrible. I hate it. A minute wasted every time you call. I am an EP.
“Self-service” is code for “You do our jobs and don’t get paid for it.”
It’s SO exhausting.
Very annoying when I have to be reminded about "self service" options online when my inquiry is something that cant be done online!
Another company was even worse (some credit card company in past) that in automated prompt system forced you to "say" your selections rather than keying it in which included social security number to identify account before could speak to anyone. If didnt say selections loud enough it would say "im sorry...
Very annoying when I have to be reminded about "self service" options online when my inquiry is something that cant be done online!
Another company was even worse (some credit card company in past) that in automated prompt system forced you to "say" your selections rather than keying it in which included social security number to identify account before could speak to anyone. If didnt say selections loud enough it would say "im sorry please repeat what you said" where I'm in a public place or in my office where dont want to say such things out loud hehe.
If I could fix it online, I wouldn’t be on the phone, AA! I travel regularly with a cabin pet and the second I add that to the reservation, all options online become useless. Then I have to listen to this announcement proudly telling me how I can add a pet, just to get rebooked because my flight was canceled.
Exactly, I too only call if I can't do something online.
Given that so many companies have a message like this, I deduce that there are a significant number of customers who do reach for the 'phone rather than trying on-line. I count them as being pretty anti-social for clogging up the call centers.
Or are management so stupid that they have not realised people only call when they can't do things online?
There's also "Yes, in theory I can do this online, but I'm phone-only right now and that is clumsy as heck".
Having said that, in defense of customers just phoning in, I would argue that the fault is on companies (e.g. airlines) slashing the heck out of their phone support systems so as to reduce overhead. Blaming the customer (who might just be fed up with the website/app falling over) is kind-of like Ford's CEO...
There's also "Yes, in theory I can do this online, but I'm phone-only right now and that is clumsy as heck".
Having said that, in defense of customers just phoning in, I would argue that the fault is on companies (e.g. airlines) slashing the heck out of their phone support systems so as to reduce overhead. Blaming the customer (who might just be fed up with the website/app falling over) is kind-of like Ford's CEO whining about Americans' preference for large SUVs and the inability to make money on large EV SUVs - that's /your/ problem to deal with, not /ours/ - we don't want to hear about it, and if you decide to make it ours we might just make you earning your bonus even more of your problem.
Also - remember when several airlines were charging for you to phone in, then generally waiving charges if they realized that "No, this really /can't/ be done on the website"?
Maybe you should drive to your destination instead of subjecting the rest of us to your cabin pet
Its like US airlines are falling over one another to see who can suck the best. We are not completely out of the Delta mess and now American tries to screw something else up. Its your move United.
I think you mean “suck the most.” If they were competing to suck the best, well, different story.
I would be more giving if their tech/self service options were better, but there are so many things that require calling in for. Even online ticketing of awards containing both AA and partner metal has been broken for months now (it errors out and you have to call in to ticket).
Yes, it is terrible, but it's actually been that way for over a year.
They just changed it to woman speaking this week. I clocked it at 63 seconds before you can say representative
No surprise - they hired the same person who took F9 to being contactless and removing the call centers. Bound to happen.